This invention relates to an improved product stuffing horn assembly and more particularly to a mechanism for removing air from casings which are being filled with product discharged from a stuffing horn.
Utilization of stuffing horns for discharge of products, such as food products including comminuted meat, into casing material has been a technique utilized in the food packaging and other industries for some time. Typically, shirred or rucked, cylindrical food casing material is fitted over an elongated cylindrically shaped horn. The open end of the casing at the open end of the stuffing horn is sealed. A product is then discharged from the open end of the horn to fill the casing as the shirred casing is removed from the horn. Various mechanisms have been devised to control the rate and tension of discharge of the casing from the end of the stuffing horn. For example, Dobbert in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,764 discloses such a mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,273 also discloses a stuffing horn construction for a sausage making machine along with a mechanism for controlling shirred casing as it is discharged from a stuffing horn. U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,945 also discloses such a construction wherein shirred casing is positioned on a stuffing horn and discharge or removal of casing from the horn is controlled by a braking mechanism.
It has been noted that upon the discharge of shirred casing from a stuffing horn when filling the casing, air may be entrained within the casing and may affect the mix and pattern of food or material being directed into the casing. Thus, there has developed a need for a procedure or mechanism which will work cooperatively in conjunction with an apparatus for controlling the discharge of shirred casing to remove air or control the air that is entrained with the shirred casing as it is fed from the end of the stuffing horn.